Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 Re: ATEED position in London
I refer to your email, which we received on 22 February 2015, requesting information about the ATEED position in London.

We have attached the Concept Paper which outlines the rationale for a fulltime seconded position to be based in London. The Concept Paper is in draft form and as such discusses a number of options for where the position might be co-located including within NZTE, MFAT or TNZ.

The individual is an employee of Tourism New Zealand, as the attached job description references, whose services are contracted back to ATEED. His one year contract salary is commensurate with the salary for his previous role at ATEED. He has not been replaced in Auckland, so there have been no additional personnel costs. The role was established as a pilot project in October 2014. The benefits and rationale for the establishment of the seconded post are outlined in the Concept Paper. In sum, ATEED took the opportunity of one of its most experienced senior staff members moving to the UK for personal reasons to launch a one-year London based pilot project focusing on:

 skilled migrant attraction;
 attracting major UK and European investors into Auckland that are interested in
investing in infrastructure and other opportunities here;
 establishing beneficial collaborative relationships with key organisations in the UK
and Europe, such as in the food and beverage innovation sector; and
 raising the profile of Auckland directly with key influencers, and opening up export
opportunities for Auckland businesses.

All employment decisions are delegated by the board to the Chief Executive. The position has no delegated authority and the accountability is as per the attached job description. The employees previous fulltime position within ATEED has not been replaced in Auckland, so there have been no additional personnel costs.
Private Bag 92300, Auckland 1142 | aucklandcouncil.govt.nz | Ph 09 301 0101 The decision was operational and therefore made by the Chief Executive and not the Board. A cost benefit analysis was not undertaken separately from the Concept Paper. The position has no delegated authority and the accountability is as per the attached job description.

The pilot will be reviewed from July 2015 before its completion in late September 2015 and the tangible gains will be reported to Council and the wider public once commercial and legal sensitivities allow.

ATEED’s goal is to aggressively grow international investment and revenues into Auckland, which is consistent with the Auckland Plan, Economic Development Strategy (EDS) and central government's Business Growth Agenda.

The EDS clearly outlines the central role ATEED plays in ensuring Auckland is forging international connections and attracting businesses, investment and talent. This is due to the fact that international cities, rather than countries, are becoming hubs for investment and innovation. In order to continue to make traction in major financial and economic hubs, we must employ different methods – sometimes with visits and delegations, and on occasions with project placements in market.

While ATEED works closely with relevant central government agencies such as New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Immigration NZ and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, it is unable to contract out Auckland’s aims to central government. As such, having people in market is vitally important – forging international connections and attracting businesses, investment and talent cannot be done from Auckland alone. Other cities conduct this sort of activity regularly.

Please note that some of the information has been withheld under section 17 (a) of the Act, for the following reason/s, and/or has been withheld as it was outside of the scope of your request:

 Section 7(2)(a), protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased
natural persons;

 Section 7(2)(h), enable any local authority holding the information to carry out,
without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities;

 Section 7(2)(i), enable any local authority holding the information to carry out, without
prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations);

 Section 17(e) that the document alleged to contain the information requested does
not exist or cannot be found:

 Section 17(f) that the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research:

Should you believe Auckland Council has not responded appropriately to your request, you have the right by way of complaint, under section 27(3) of the LGOIMA, to apply to the Ombudsmen to seek an investigation and review of the decision.

If you have any further queries please contact me on 09 301 0101, quoting Official Information Request No. 9000134482.